Loose-leaf book



2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

B. G. MARTIN.

LOOSE LEAF BOOK. APPLICATION man APR.30.1921..

WIIIUHVII B. G. MARTIN. LLoosf: LEAF BOOK. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 192|.v

Patented Da. 20, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

monm.

BERTRAND GEORGE MARTIN, 01T' LUNDQN, ENGLAND.

LOSE-LEF 1300K.

application inea april so, wei.

To all whom it' may concern:

Be it known that l, BERTRAND Gnonon MARTIN, a subject of the lling of Great Britain, residing at 12/13 Bow Lane, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful `improvements in Loose-Leaf Books, (for which l have filed an application in Great Britain, No. 10,752, dated April 17, 1920,) of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to loose-leaf books of the thonged type, that is, of the kind in Which thongs, tapes or the like are secured in the front and back covers of the books, and the leaves which constitute 'the body of the book are slotted in such manner as to be capable of lateral movement on such thongs.

According to this invention the thongs entering one or both covers are secured to a thong attachment of metal, vulcanized fiber, or other suitable relatively stift1 material, on which one cover is movable in such manner that the said cover can be slid toward or avvay from the center of the book telescopically in relation to the flexible portion of the book back which unites the tvvo boards or relatively stili portions of the back and front covers, and incloses the inner or slotted edges of the loose leaves. rlhe cover slides freely on the thongs, the thong attachment being provided With a projecting tab to hold the thongs during such movement, that is, to prevent the thongs from following the covers when drawn closer together, this tab being adapted to act also as a fastening device for the movable cover When the book is closed.

ln order that the said invention may be clearly understood Vand readily carried into effect, the same will nonT be described more fully With reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure l represents the cardboard or other foundation of the front cover of a loose-leaf book, in a fiat condition, and Fig. 2 represents the saine partly folded'.

Fig. 3 shows the cardboard or other foundation of the back cover of the book in a flat condition, and Fig. 4l the same partly folded.

Fig. 5 represents the thong attachment, thongs and tab assembled.

Fig. 6 shows a strip of metal from which the thong attachment can be made, and Fig, 7 illustrates the method of folding saine so as to grip the thongs.

Fig. 8 shows an alternative method of fas- Spccication of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 20, 1921.

seran no. assess.

toning the thongs and tab to the thong attachment.

Fig. .9 shows a book in which the boards shown in Figs. lto 4 and the thong attachment, Fig. 5, are assembled in a book having a pliable back, the thongs being tightened.

Fig. 10 shows the same book with the back fully expanded.

Fig. 11 shows a modified form of book to which this invention can be applied. Y

Fig. 12 is an external vievv of a modified form of the front cover of the book.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary view taken through the longitudinal center of the tab E in Fig. 9.

Fig. le is a view of the parts shown in Fig.. 13 in another position.

ln the drawings, A indicates the front cardboard foundation, technically known` as a sideboard, which is folded along the lines o', a2 and has three holes o3, o4 and o5 in its central leaf. rlhe sideboard B of the back cover, which is folded along the lines b2 has the greater part of its central leaf cut avvay shown in Fig. 3, and is provided with three holes b3, lit, and b5 to house the thongs, and with smaller holes 5G and o7 for the reception of a catch such as that shown in F igs. 1 3 and le. The thong attachmentv C to which the thongs D, d (Z2, and tab E are attached, may either be composed of three laminations as show-vn in Figs. 6 and 7, secured by riveting through the thongs and tab, or may be as in Fig. 8 a stronger piece of metal or other material with longitudinal apertures o', c2, c3, through which the thongs and tab are passed, turned back on themselves, and secured by stitching, riveting or adhesive means. The thongs being sunk in the holes o3, b3, etc., are guided thereby, and also are thus prevented from forming bulges or ridges in or on the bookbacks.

The end leaves or fly-leaves F of the book are made with narrow holes adapted to ride on the thongs.

The thongs being secured to the sideboard in any suitable manner, the thong attachment is placed inside the sideboard B With the tab l projecting therethrough as shown in Fig. 9, and a pliable back G connected to the outer surface of the two sideboards. The loose leaves H of the book are slotted in known manner to embrace the thongs. The unused projecting portion of the tab E can be tucked into the front cover of the book when the book is closed, either passing through a loop provided for that purpose on the linished book as shown at P in Fig. l2, or passing into the iront sideboard through the rounded end of the hole a4, the length of the central thong d being reduced to make room for the insertion of the tab. When some of the leaves have been taken out of the book, reducing its thickness, the tab is held and the cover pulled or pushed toward the center of theV back so as to tighten the covers upon the remaining leaves. Conversely when new leaves are to beadded to the book, the cover may be pulled outward as in Fig. 10, expos-V ing portions of the thongs on which the new leaves can be threaded, after which the cover can be tightened up in the same way as aforesaid.

Any suitable catch may be provided to hold the tab E and sideboard B in any. desired position relatively to each other. A well-known form of catch is shown by way of example in Figs. 13 and 14, comprising a iixed base J (F ig. 9) outside the sideboard, and a tongue j appearing on the inner surface of the sideboard, this tongue being pivoted at y'z and having a serrated flange ja adapted to grip the tab E when the tongue is laid against the sideboard as shown in Fig. 13, and to release the said tab when the tongueis turned at right angles to the sideboard as shown in Fig. 14.

The usual binding or covering of cloth, leather, or. the like can be secured to the book in known manner, the turned in edge` of such binding adjacent to the tonguev j being out o just short of the said tongue. Y

In loose-leaf booksV in which a sliding pocket is arranged to inclose the back cover of the book, and to take up the slackness in the cover` ycaused by tightening the t-hongs, the tab may project through a slit cut in the outer edge of the said pocket, as shown in Fig. 11, wherein K indicates the pocket, lo',

Y the location of the slit, and M an extension of the pliable back secured to the thong attachment in the sideboard B. l

The invention is equally applicable to books in which the pliable back G is omitted, the rear edges of the loose leaves H being exposed between the end leaves F and the sideboards A and B. It is also applicable to books in'which the thongs D traverse the end leaves F, which can be fitted with an outer cover or binding or such binding can loosely lit over same in known manner.

The locking device may beconcealed within a flap or pocket on the cover, and operated from the inside or outside of such flap or pocket, or of the cover as desired. l

The thongs should-be secured at or pass through the extreme inner edges of the front and back covers (which may be suitably strengthened) in order that the edges and not the faces of such covers should be drawn together.

The arrangement of three thongs D, d', cl2 is considered a suitable one, but either the central thong or the two outer thongs may be omitted, or more than three thongs may be used.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a loose-leaf book, the combination of a cover, a thong attachment of stitl' material, a flexible thong secured to said cover and to said thong attachment, a second cover inclosing said attachment and slidable thereon, a tab secured to said attachment and projecting beyond said cover at the edge thereof remote from said thong, and means for connecting said tab to said iirst-named cover whenV the book is closed.

2. In a loose-leaf book, the combination of a cover, a thong attachment of stiff material, a plurality of parallel flexible thongs all secured to said cover and to said thong attachment, a second cover inclosing said attachment and slidable thereon, a tab secured to said attachment and projecting beyond said second cover at the edge thereof remote from said thongs, and means for connecting said tab to said first-named cover when the book is closed.

3. In a loose-leaf book, a thong attach-V ment of stili material, the combination of a cover, a flexible thong secured to said cover and to said thong attachment, a second cover connected to the first-named cover by a exible back, said second cover inclosing said attachment and slidable thereon, a tab secured to said attachment and projecting beyond said second cover at the edge thereof and re-` mote from said thong, and means for conc nectingV said tab to said first-named cover when the book is' closed.

4. In a loose-leaf book, the combination of a cover, a thong attachment of stilll material, a flexible thong secured to said cover and to said thong attachment, a second cover inclosing said attachment and slidable thereon, a tab secured to said attachment and projectingbeyond said second cover at lthe edge thereof remote from said thong, a catch on said second cover adapted to engagesaid tab to limit the relative movement of said second cover and tab, and means for connecting said tab to said first-named'cover when the book kis closed.

nnmrnANnY GEORGE MARTIN. 

